Upon finishing his theological studies, Niels Lassen Holm (1769-1839) became a curate in the village of Thy, Denmark. He became engaged with Maren Højer, the village priest’s daughter. She fell pregnant and they married on the day she gave birth. This may be the reason why he did not take, as expected, his father in law’s place, but was sent with Maren and their three children to the Faroes in 1807 to take the calling as a priest in the parish of North Streymoy.

In addition to his own parish, he also served the parishioners in Vágoy, as no priest was found to fill that calling between 1811 and 1822. His wife, Maren, hanged herself, when it became evident that one of the maidservants had fallen pregnant and Holm was the father.

In the same year one of their sons disappeared in Kvívik only 10 years of age and was never found.

The book is about this man and his descendants, many of whom became well known both in the Faroes and Denmark. A family tree is included in the work, containing 6.300 direct descendants in six branches—invaluable material for genealogists, as it includes 15.000 people.

This is no fictive portrait of Niels Lassen Holm, as it is built on documented events.